Catnip and Gale
by mockingpottervictorious
Summary: Eleven year old Katniss and fourteen year old Gale meet when their fathers die in a tragic mining accident and become best friends. Bad description but i promise the story is better than i described it haha
1. Chapter 1

**This story is the past of Katniss and Gale, i hope you like it :)**

I stroll over to the handwritten list of names pinned up on the Justice Building wall, the smell of dead flesh still hanging in the air and reminding me that my father could potentially be dead. If his name wasn't on that list he'd either be at the hospital in the Capitol or at Mrs Everdeen's house recovering.

I read it and i feel my heart stop, 'HARRY HAWTHORNE', he's dead.

"Excuse me, is that the list of the... Dead?" A girl with long brown hair, sharp features and grey eyes is staring at me from her position. I notice her jacket is too big for her and her boots are falling apart.

"Yes... Who are you looking for?" I sniffle, still trying to get over the fact my father is dead as i try to forget what i have just seen as much as possible.

She replies, trying to read the list of names in tiny writing, "Everdeen." So I scroll the list with my eyes, deliberately passing my fathers name that is fourth from the top. I lock onto a name...

I ask quietly, "Um... Is it Tomas Everdeen?"

She nods and I shake my head. She smiles a tiny smile, "Thanks." She leaves my side, towards a pale woman I presume to be her mother and a child that looks about 8.

I watch as the woman covers her head and sinks to her knees, hugging the small child tightly while Katniss stands by herself, crying silently and looking at the flowers that have been laid out for the dead as though they requested them. Seeing as my father was allergic to flowers and hated the smell of daisies in particular, it all seems very stupid. But I can't just watch her while i try and plan out how to tell my mother and whether to tell my two younger siblings Vick and Rory. How do you tell a pregnant woman and her two innocent children that her husband and their 'daddy' is dead?

I awaken three days later to the sound of my youngest brother, Vick, crying at my bedside, wrapped in my only blanket leaving me with nothing but my grey, cotton, warm trousers and a cotton t-shirt. I tap his shoulder, "What's up little man?", then sit up on my bed. He climbs up and sits next to me, tucking his head under my armpit to protect himself. I flick my lighter, that i found on the ground a few days ago, over my candle and use the light to find my mother on the floor, asleep, her hand rested on my baby sister Posy's chest protectively as she sleeps. Posy had been at the Everdeen's all day the day after i found the death list as she had been born due to my mothers stress. She was healthy though and we managed to claim ten dollars from the Capitol to buy her clothing . My other brother Rory is cuddling a teddy as he sleeps on Vick's bed - clearly he got into it shortly after Vick came to me. He looks so healthy when he's asleep. No bags under his eyes from lack of water and his bony arms not visible under the blanket.

"Where's Daddy?.." Vick mumbles, his eyes are closed as he drifts back off to sleep. I don't respond, unsure how to tell him and stroke his head as I put it on my, still warm, pillow as i stand up and step over my mother to reach the bathroom where i will get dressed, as i do everyday, then hunt in the woods while the animals are getting fresh in the water and eating breakfast but before they hide away in their caves for the rest of the day.

I find the forest the most peaceful place in our district. Its quiet and noone ever comes with me because it's prohibited. There is an electric fence that seperates the forest from our village but it's never turned on - the highest voltage i've ever seen it at is 5V and that's nothing really.

It is coming up to sunset and i wish i'd not left my bow in the woods because i pass two turkeys that would've been simple to kill if i'd had it on me.

I collect my bow from under a hollow log and clean off the arrows from moisture and dirt so they'll spear better and kill the animal faster. I do have a heart.

I do my usual routine, head to the river and check for any fishes as they make easy money. I use my net that i made using barbed wire and a cotton net, managing to kill five fishes which should get me very little but something at least. I then trudge through the overgrown grass to wait for the rabbits and squirrels. I sip the water i collected from the spring until a snapping of a twig makes me spill it down my front as i lift the bow in the direction to the sound. I shoot in an instant and hit a rabbit in between the eyes. It falls backwards and i smile because dinner for my mother is sorted. Mixed with vegetables i should be able to buy at the Hob i might be able to make Rabbit Stew as a suprise.

"How did you do that?" It is the same girl that asked me if her father was on the list of the dead.

"Where did you come from?" I panicked, hoping he hadn't given away his position to anyone like the Peace Keepers. He didn't think anyone even woke up this early besides him. The girl still stood there, waiting for her question to be answered, "I just shot it." I shrugged, wiping the water from my top and checking behind me incase the animals had been disturbed.

The girl comes closer and sits next to me on the small patch of grass between the bushes, "I know but how? You're so far away!" she looks so genuinly interested it make me chuckle a bit.

"I should be farther, I don't like people watching me hunt... Makes me feel guilty." I think she understands the message and gets up, brushing off her jeans and nodding awkwardly. I feel regretful. "Sorry... What's your name?"

She continues to stand next to me and whispers, "Catnip..." I guess she is still a bit wary of the teenager that just told her to basically get lost.

I smile, trying to make myself more appealing, "Hey Catnip-"

"-Katniss!" She interjects loudly, making me silent but then she laughs, "Sorry... How old are you? You look around 18 but you always stand with the smaller boys at the Reaping!"

I shake my head defensively, "Fourteen. Do you even qualify for the Hunger Games yet? You look about six." I take in her small height and she puts her hands on her hips, trying to make herself look taller as she strains her neck upwards. She sits back down next to me when i pat the spot of grass she'd gotten up from, "I'm eleven..."


	2. Chapter 2

My mother speaks to Katniss' mother often. Sometimes the Everdeens camp over at our house at night for a bit of fun. They talk mostly about their businesses that aren't doing too well but about their children also. More often they mourn their husbands into their teacups of an evening when they think we're all asleep in my room but me and Katniss are awake, reading through a book we borrow from Gretal who trades books for money at the Hob.

Mrs Everdeen is worried that Katniss doesn't have many friends so sent me out to look after her. I have to search for her before i can do that though. I walk down to where she suprised me and as suspected, she is sat there, plucking blades of grass and wrapping them around her fingers, forming rings.

"You getting married?" I ask and i kiss the ring on her wedding finger, making her chuckle. She says, "Actually this kid in my class drew this for me today-" Katniss pulls out a folded piece of paper and unfolds it infront of me; it is a sketch of herself in pencil, complete with shading and details. "Peeta. He's the bakers son, the one with the blonde hair? Maybe he wants to marry me(!)" I nod and think of the boy i reguarly see yet never talk to; i don't even acknowledge him when we pass one another. I'm looking at the ground but I can see her observing my face in the corner of my grey, enchanting, inherited eye. Probably another zit... "How come he drew it so spontaneously?"

"Huh?"

"Randomly..." I explain.

"For my birthday." She smiles, pulling from her bag and showing me a card she recieved from her mother and Prim with a huge number 12 on the cover. I regret not buying her anything but i wasn't to know i suppose.

She asks truthfully, "You already look like a man. You swear your only fourteen?"

I laugh and help her to get up after standing myself, "Are you sure you're twelve? I'm pretty sure you should have less spots at your age!" She scoffs and slaps my arm playfully, although she has to reach up a little because I'm already 5"9.

We walk back to the first river where we often collect fish to trade and to sell but Katniss doesn't want to go home yet. "Fine." I say, as I don't really mind, all my mother does is cry anyway... Katniss sits on the bank and questions, "How come we all look similar? Us at The Seam?"

"Because of what we eat and there's not a lot of sun here compared to the other Districts. We all seem to have olive skin, straight black hair, and grey eyes." I sigh, wishing we were more different in appearance so when we married we didnt look like brother and sister. Katniss has brown eyes however, and her sister doesn't follow the trend at all: Pale skin, wavy blonde hair, and blue eyes.

We watch a girl walking to her home with a bag of grain - tessera.

Our district is one of the poorest in Panem so we have the option, (and most people accept) to claim tesserae, which are tokens worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person.

You can only claim tesserae from once you turn twelve to when you turn eighteen because that is the age range eligible for the Hunger Games. I'm already claiming tesserae which puts my name into the reaping 4 more times each year, because i claim tesserae for Rory, Vick, my mother and Posy. In total already, i have 10 entries for this years Games.

I'm due to collect my tesserae soon... But we still need to hunt, we cannot live off the tesserae. It is my duty to trade and sell for basic needs such as the rent money and basic dietry needs. As well as this, little Posy requires diapers and milk and of course, we have to spend most of the money on her already. In a way, our father's deaths have helped us, Katniss agrees.

"How much compensation did you get after the explosion?" I ask her and she gulps, i tell i've touched a nerve...

"Almost nothing, it only manages to buy my mother one medicine and it doesnt take long to run out. The money stops tomorrow but my mother doesnt have a job yet. All she does it sit there while Prim cries..." She confesses. My mother has started a laundry business but with Posy, she normally gets behind with it all and loses a couple of customers.

Katniss doesnt feel like being out anymore and says goodbye. She goes into her house once i walk her home and i hear her shouting at her mother to get up, i wish i could help.

I go inside and my mother is smiling for the first time since father died. "Gale! Look Posy, Gale's here!" Posy holds her arms out to me and i hold her while my mother counts coins on the table, "I had three more customers and one was the mayor! He paid triple my rates so..." She puts a portion of the coins in my hand and wraps her hands around my closed fist, "Go and buy something nice for yourself and the children - no food! Something fun." I can tell she means it and im overjoyed.

I ask, chuckling at how she is dancing around the room, "Now?"

"Yes now! Take Rory with you, he needs a bit of colour in his cheeks, the poor mite." My mother pushes him towards me and i hold his hand once ive put Posy back in my mothers arms. He waves to her and i smile, jangling the coins in my pocket as we walk towards the traders market.


	3. Chapter 3

Rory releases my had and runs over to a small bicycle, "Wow! Gale do we have enough?!" I join him and smile at the woman behind the counter, who normally buys birds off me to make pigeon pie as well as other varieties, before checking the price tag and counting up the coins.

"Sorry Rory, we only have ten dollars..."

The woman puts her hands up, "I'll let him have it for five if you bring me some squirrels and a deer by the end of the week..." Deer are the most difficult to hunt right now because it isn't their season but i cant let down Rory and Vick so I nod and he hugs me, more excited than i've ever seen him before and I lift the bike for him, carrying it as we approach the handmade items that Katniss always drags me to after we've traded, in hope of getting a pin or a broach.

Rory is fiddling with some handmade necklaces with golden chains, in a box and holds up a green one with a tag attatched, 'Free personalisation! $1 each!' I hold it in my palm and imagine Katniss in her favourite colour - forest green, and buy it with her name written out on the charm, as well as one for Primrose in yellow and promise Rory he can give it to her.

Rory holds the necklaces that have been put into a bag as i walk around, wanting to spend the $3 on something my mother would want... I then spot a sale on diapers and head over - "How much for a pack of ten?"

"Three dollars kid." I cant disagree with the man and hand the coins over. I now carry the bike, a bag of diapers and Rory's hand while he holds a bag of very light necklaces. I don't mind the difference in baggage, he is my brother after all.

We arrive on the Everdeen's doorstep and i put Rory's bike over and behind the small wooden gate for safe keeping while he knocks on the door. Buttercup wraps his tail around my leg as i begin to join Rory at the door but i socialise with him, knowing Katniss probably won't do more than look at him once he's inside.

Buttercup is a muddy-yellow cat that belongs to Prim, left behind when the Capitol visited after the mine explosion killed out fathers. Katniss considers him a reminder that her father is dead so has a hatred for him but Prim adores him and considers him a condolence present from them, as though they care.

If they cared about us, they wouldnt take two children from us each year and put them in a fight to the death.

"Hey Buttercup..." I sooth as i stroke him from top to tail, making my fingers a bit muddy and wet. He has presumably been in a mud hole on his travels around The Seam. I let him enter wthe house when Mrs Everdeen answers to us and straighten myself back up, wiping my hands on my brown jacket that matches Katniss'. They were part of the miners' uniforms so remind us of our fathers.

"Oh hello Rory... Gale..." She looks like she's been crying again but i think it's better not to ask why. I wave politely and watch as Rory hugs her pale, bony frame lovingly. Because Mrs Everdeen didnt always like here in The Seam, her complexion is completely different and she feels the cold a lot more. "Oh is that your bike Rory?" She asks, looking around the corner and spotting it, opening her mouth, over exaggerating on how amazing it looks.

I start, "We have gifts for you all."

She looks dismissive, "Gale, why? We really don't need anything." She is backing up and starting to close the door.

"Presents! Honestly, i want you to have them!" I insist and she beckons me inside, taking Rory's hand and leading him inside behind me.

I stand and wave at Prim who is brushing out Buttercup's fur while he sits on the mat ans she immediately stops to run up and hug me. I lift her and hug her back, looking around the room for Katniss in the split second i have before i have to put Prim down to let Rory give her her present.

Rory says to her, "This is for you Primmy..." I think he might have a crush on her so i chuckle a little until he glares at me. He shows her the jewel, making her gasp in awe and turn to her mother, checking that it was okay for her to have it. I know that Mrs Everdeen will be dismissive once again so quickly interrupt.

"Prim!" She looks at me, the same look Katniss had the first time she met me properly in the woods. "It's for you because it kinda looks like Buttercup, don't you think?" She looks at her cat and laughs, nodding.

I smile at Mrs Everdeen who is rubbing her arms, most likely from how cold the house is, but she smiles back thankfully. I remove my brown jacket from my father and then my red sweater and give it to her while Prim isnt looking and is playing with Rory with Buttercup. "Take it." I am still holding it out to her but she is refusing.

"Your mother will go mad!" She lectured, pushing it to my chest so i sigh and hold it, while Rory picks his boots up from the mat and starts to lace them up. "Rory, give Posy and Vick a hug for me and be safe on the bicycle!" She laughs, making him nod in agreement as he waves to her and Prim on his way out.

I follow him but then remember the remaining necklace in the bag, "Oh, where's Katniss by the way?"

Her mother covers her head with her hand while Prim replies miserably,"She left... I think she went to the woods." I nod an throw the red sweater inside so it lands on the armchair before leaving quickly and closing the door before she has time to object to it.

Rory pulls the bike over the gate and sits on it, giggling gleefully, "Can i ride it home? Can i?!" I nod and walk behind him with Katniss' necklace in my right fist and the diapers in my left, telling my brother to be careful a couple times when he goes into a stoney patch of pathway. I walk him tot he door and unlock it, handing my mother the diapers as soon as she looks at me.

"Here you go."

She gasps, "These are $10 Gale! I said get something for everyone!" She seems angry until i lead her outside, followed by Vick who is clinging to her leg, to the bicycle. "A bike?! Oh my goodness Gale you did so well!"

I smile, "I just have to deliver Trix a deer and squirrils by the end of the week to secure the deal, can i go check the forest now?" I whisper quietly as hunting is actually prohibited. She nods in reply and helps Vick to climb onto the bike as he squeels in excitement. I see her then bring Posy outside into the cool air that Mrs Everdeen considers 'winter' and let her crawl on our small patch of land as i am walking towards the forest, not in hope of finding a deer but in hope of finding Katniss.


	4. Chapter 4

I trudge through the grass, my boots gathering both rainwater and mud from the blades. In the sky are mockingjays singing an unknown tune that i get stuck in my head even after they've flown off. The trees seem unusually sad and it feels as though i'm being watched. Suddenly i remember the tessarae im due to collect and tie a piece of rope from my pocket around my ring finger to remember. I collect my bow from the log and carry it incase i do see a deer but jump at the sound of a human.

"Gale!" Katniss calls from up a very tall tree to me at the foot. I wave childishly, as though she is a lot farther away but I become worried when she suddenly stops waving back to point into the distance, "A deer! Gale, a deer!" Katniss is screaming in excitement and smiling hugely. I remember my deal with Trix and smile back, holding out my armsfor her to jump down into.

"You better catch me!" She laughs and jumps down, into my arms and we stand there for a split second, just looking at each other in matching brown, leather jackets. Her hair looks lighter than usual and is braided in a side braid. I've never seen it this way.

I compliment, "Your hair looks great like that."

She smiles shyly, "Gee, thanks..."

We snap out of it and I quickly spin her towards the direction she pointed and release her. She runs off, pulling my hand as we go and laughing when i stumble or get my trousers wet from the grasss soaked in last nights rainfall...

Katniss stops and searches for the deer, "We can't have lost it Gale, it'll get us at least $10!"

I shake my head, determined that we will find it again and as suspected, it runs into my view and stares at Katniss. "Don't move Gale..." She takes the bow off my back slowly and silently and raises it above her head, ready to shoot but it then runs again and Katniss grumbles angrily.

I look at how annoyed she is and can tell she wanted the money to spend on her family. "Come on." I hold out my palm and she looks at it questioningly. I nod, assuring that it's okay and he holds my hand, running in the direction the deer went in with me being pulled behind.

As we run, mockingjays flutter past us which make Katniss squeel and lose her balance for a moment which gets us both in hysterics. "Gale, stop!" She breathlessly laughs as i continue to pull her through the forest after the deer but truthfully more concerned about how much fun we're having.

We cross a small stream, Katniss takes the lead, stepping across and feeling very confident about it. I step across onto the first stone, once she has gone onto the next one and shake my head as she says sarcastically, "Gale please be careful, i know how bad you are with balancing." She advises sarcastically as she is infact the one who can't keep her balance. I playfully push her a little as she takes a step forward.

"Woah! Mind your step Catnip, i dont know if your size 12 feet will fit on the small stepping stones!" I retaliate and laugh, also being sarcastic as it is me with the size 11 feet whereas she has a minute size 6.5. She twists her neck so she faces me with a stern expression.

We step across to the other bank and prepare to sit down but my attentive vision spots an argument in the distance.

At the sight of PeaceKeepers, I push her down into a bush and leap into it with her, putting my finger over her lips as she goes to shout at me.I have to break off a couple of the branches to stop me from implaing myself and also snap a couple to the side of Katniss' neck so she doesn't impale and bleed to death. I point over the top, putting my finger over my lip to shush her and we peer over at a small boy about my age and presumably his sister. The Peacekeeper's 'stormtrooper'-like appearance is terifying and they are shouting at the children loudly, most likely for going past the fence.

"Would that happen if somebody saw us here?" Katniss whispers and i nod slowly, eyes fixed on the argument. One of the men then whip out a pistol and shoot the boy in the head when he steps infront of his sister. Katniss quickly covers her face and ducks back behind the bush, shaking. I continue to watch. The boy falls to the ground instantly and the girl screams, the sound goes through me and i have to look away, as she is lifted and kidnapped into the Hovercraft owned by the Capitol. It is most likely we will never see her again.

I dont speak, knowing that nothing i say will make the situation better. I sit for a moment with Katniss, opposite her with our boots touching at the toe. "You want to go home?" She nods so guilty for not doing anything to help the children, i lock my fingers around Katniss' and walk with her back in the direction we came, shoulders close despite our height variation and swinging our joined arms backwards and forwards.

Katniss looks at the ground while she speaks, "Prim was crying when i got home because my mother had kicked Buttercup outside into the yard."

I nod, "Why?"

"He ate the fish i cooked for their dinners the night before."

I chuckle, "Fat cat."

"Obese Beast." She chuckles and i let her rest her head on my shoulder but continue walking with her quietly until we reach close enough to see the fence. "You know, i dont want to be twelve..."

I nod and stop, resting my back against a tree and letting her sit on the grass, "Because of the Hunger Games? I know... I was terrified on my birthday."

My birthday is always on the day of The Reaping which sucks.

Katniss shakes her head, "No, it's cause i can claim tesserae. I don't have an excuse anymore for being a child... I have to provide."

"I'm going to collect my tesserae for everyone later... Want to get yours too? Moral support?" She nods and I kinda wish my father were here still, i am guessing she feels the same. "GALE!" She hisses and points to a doe only a few metres away. "Shoot it quick."

I'm confused because Katniss doesn't usually have this little amount of care about animals, even when she is shooting one. Nevertheless i take my bow off my back, stand straight and aim for a one shot, instant kill. It falls and Katniss smirks, "How much do you think it'll make us?"

I reply sarcastically, "A bike maybe?.." She frowns but doesn't question it until we approach my house. I am carrying the doe under its belly so it doesnt feel as heavy and Katniss trails behind, kicking the stones on the path. I wave to my mother who is sitting on our doorstep and turn, ready to say goodbye to Katniss but notice she looks particularly glum. I turn back to my mother and she makes actions basically telling me to be a gentleman, "Do you want me to walk you back?" I ask as i turn around to her, resting my back against the wall of our home. She shrugs, which i interpret as 'yes' and stand myself up straight, realising once more the weight of the doe as we are walking.

She waves to my mother and we only make it past a few houses before she suddenly stumbles as we are walking and grazes up her elbow, as well as contracting a grass stain on her trousers. "Catnip, you okay?" I can't help her up because of the weight of the doe but watch her attentively as she stands up, dusting herself down.

"I'm good... Hey, Gale, what's in the bag?" She is holding the bag with her necklace in. I must've dropped it as i was walking, "Ooh, you got a girlfriend?" She whistles as she lifts it in the air by the chain but then reads the name on the gemstone - i turn away from her before i see her reaction and start walking away, unsure whether i want to hear her.

She doesn't act upon it and runs to catch me up, "Is thisfor me?"

"Yes."

I see heer smile out of the corner of my eye and i decide to stop being a prat. "Turn around, i'll tie it for you if you want?" She nods and sweeps the stray hairs from down her neck to the side, holding them all at the side, with her braid. I clip it at the back and release it. "It looks beautiful!" I exclaim as she turns to show it to me, she giggles and starts to walk again but then stops with her index finger in the air.

"Shall we trade the deer together?"

I would like that so much but i have to try and look cool, "Yeah, whatever..."

She exclaims chirpily, "Its a date." Smiling, she skips inside her house which leaves me on her doorstp, confused, i go to speak but she explains first, "Let me put something else on and get these grassy trousers off first, come in and wait if you like."

I really would Katniss but i'm holding a female deer with an arrow hole in its head...


End file.
